Chapter 5: Stuck With Me Now

After their close call with security, escaping the hotel was easier than Sev expected it to be. Reddick must have caused a distraction downstairs, as they’d planned in case the Op went sideways. Which, judging from Sev’s current hanger-on, it most certainly has. Knowing they had only a limited amount of time, Sev and Marion had taken a route through some of the Arclight’s staff-only hallways until they reached a side entrance that wasn’t being guarded, and slipped out of the hotel unnoticed.

“Where in the hell are we going, anyway?” Marion asked as they fled down the dark alleyways near the hotel. Sev’s wrists were still bound with silken rope, and Marion still had a gun trained on her almost the entire time.Even so, Sev had taken the lead. After all, she knew these streets better than almost anyone.

“I have a safehouse nearby,” she promised. It was true—her crew had a safehouse set up in a central location in many of the upper decks, just in case. Ravi’s idea. “It’s not much, but it’ll get us off their radar for a bit while you tell me what the hell is really going on here.”

“You mean, while you tell me why you were sneaking around my hotel room, right?”

“Sure,” Sev said nonchalantly, her back pressed up against a wall as she peered around a corner. “All clear.” She ducked out and started hustling down the alleyway. They reached another corner just outside a laundromat that was almost definitely a front for something else. Above the narrow streets where they stood, the monorail and various skyways wound around and through the many looming buildings of Deck 8. 

Sev rested for a moment before getting her bearings. “We’re close. Just a few more blocks,” she said quietly, just in case there were others nearby.

“Is your crew going to be there?” Marion whispered back. She’d forbidden Sev from contacting them—probably afraid of what might happen if she were outnumbered.

“They’ll be looking for me, so it’s possible one of them will drop in to see if I’m there. But if you’re willing to cooperate, we can help you out, too. There’s obviously information you know that our client wanted. But that doesn’t mean you can’t…outbid them,” she explained.

“It doesn’t sound like I have much choice,” Marion replied. “Fine. Take me to the safehouse and patch me in with the rest of your crew. Who is your client, anyway? Is it Harper? And what did they pay for this intrusion into my personal business?”

“You think I know those kinds of details? I only get a cut, anyway,” she said. Ravi was the one who did all the client-facing work, and he handled all the payments. “I have absolutely no clue who Harper is, and I wouldn’t care even if I did.” That wasn’t entirely true. Sev was starting to wonder just who Harper was, who Marion was, and what all of this meant. But the less investment she showed, the less Marion would worry about her.

Marion cursed under her breath. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Nothing made sense just yet, Sev thought. But if she could get Marion to the safehouse, maybe she’ll start talking. “Come on. It’s only a bit further.” She nudged Marion and started off into the next alleyway, sneaking past the laundromat since the lights inside were on, and who knew what was really going on behind those doors. 

As promised, the safe house was only a few more blocks away. They ascended a narrow set of metal stairs by the side of a tall industrial building, one of many warehouses whose upper floors linked up with the skyway above. Up and up and up they went, until they were sweaty and panting with effort.

“Couldn’t have gotten one closer to the ground?” Marion complained.

“Trust me, this place is totally off-grid.”

They reached the 32nd floor, and there Sev found the catwalk that extended parallel to the street below, linking this warehouse with the next. They were just underneath the skyway now, walking down a narrow path many hundreds of feet above the street. “Don’t look down,” Sev said.

“Too late,” Marion said, wobbling.

Sev turned and stopped. “Look at me.”

Marion locked eyes with her, and for a moment, Sev was distracted by just how beautiful they were. “Focus on the back of my head,” she said. “Hands on the railing. Don’t look away.” She turned and continued onward, hoping Marion took her advice. While didn’t do well with heights either, at least this time she was walking on solid metal, rather than rappelling down the side of a 50-something-story hotel. After that experience, this was nothing.

The skyway loomed over them as they passed underneath it. 10 lanes wide, the area underneath the skyway was large enough to house a building of its own—which is exactly what they found. It wasn’t much; just a few rooms latched to the bottom of the skyway. Dozens of power cables ran along the bottom of the skyway as well, providing power to the lights and street lamps on the street above.

“Isn’t this one of those old maintenance stations for the skyway?” Marion asked, looking the complex over dubiously.

“It was, before they abandoned them. Then our fixer appropriated it for ourselves.” Sev walked up to the front entrance. A holocard scanner barred their entry, but that was nothing for a skilled runner. “I’m going to need my hands to get us in.”

“No funny business?” Marion said, more to herself than to Sev. “I need to know that I can trust you.”

“Hey, I got you away from those hotel mooks, didn’t I? Give me some credit.”

Marion sighed and moved to undo the ropes tying Sev’s wrists together behind her back. She was almost upset to feel the bonds slip. She shook her head to wrench those thoughts from her mind. This was too important to get…distracted.

With her hands free, she went to work. She had her rig set up in no time. Their access key was a holocard Ravi stole and duped years ago, or so she had been told. She’d never used this particular safehouse before, but to her knowledge it was still safe. Within seconds, her spoofed credentials did the trick, and a chime sounded from the scanner. “Entry granted,” a soft voice spoke.

Sev and Marion spilled inside, shutting and locking the door behind them. If it didn’t look like much on the outside, it looked like even less on the inside. The only piece of furniture that looked like it originally belonged here was the large worktable in the center of the main room. Everything else had been installed by hand, mostly the kind of prefab furniture and appliances that anyone could set up without much skill. Even so, Ravi probably hired somebody to do the work, then bought their silence. That seemed to be his MO. 

A few side rooms held some surprises. One, a lounge of sorts, had a simple screen in front of a large couch—perfect for keeping up on news or security chatter. She could even link it up to her rig if she needed to. There was a makeshift kitchen—mostly just a sink, microwave and refrigerator—but it would do in a pinch if they needed to stay for more than a few hours. She opened the last door to find a bedroom—well, a bare room containing a single bed and four bug-out duffels filled with essentials. 

A single bed, she thought. If they wound up having to stay here for the night, they’d only have one bed to sleep in. Just the kind of thing to put Marion’s mind at ease, she joked.

“Not exactly a five star hotel,” Marion said, upon inspecting everything.

“You try getting a quiet place in every deck,” Sev challenged. “It’s fine. It’ll do. We have food, a monitor, a bed, and a perfect view of the streets. We could stay here for days and nobody would know where to find us.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say a bed? As in one, singular?” Marion said, mouth agape.

“Don’t worry, you can take the bed,” Sev said with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll take the couch.” In the back of her mind, there was a pang of disappointment. It wasn’t exactly highest on her list of priorities, but sharing a bed with the beautiful blonde would at least add a little bit of fun to the proceedings.

Instead, she detached her rig from her wrist where it had been since the Op went to hell, and hardwired it to the screen in the lounge. She didn’t dare utilize any wireless connection—that kind of thing could broadcast her position to anyone savvy enough to check. “I’m going to check in with my crew and make sure they know I’m okay,” she said. Marion, who still gripped her handgun like it was her only lifeline, nodded.

She suspected somebody would respond to her call immediately, but there was no answer. A knot of worry wormed its way into her insides. What if they’d been caught? She had no doubt Talys could slip out of a situation like that, but…even so, the possibility remained. Finally, Ravi’s voice filled the room.

“Seven. What happened.” His voice was cold.

“Op went south,” she said. “The mark showed up early. But listen, there’s something else going on here. The second she found me, security was looking for both of us. She’s saying she’s been double-crossed. I think whatever info we were looking for, it’s more important than we thought.”

“Where is the mark now?”

Sev glanced at Marion. The blonde gave a slight nod, concern etched onto her face. Sev wished she could say or do something to make her feel less worried. 

“She’s with me. I’m at the Deck 8 safehouse.”

“Stay there,” Ravi said. “Talys is giving security the runaround. Suzuki and Reddick are safe. One of us will come to retrieve you in the morning.”

“Wait,” Marion suddenly chimed in. “I need answers. I need to know who hired you, and why.”

There was a lingering pause on the line. Then, finally: “Lay low, Sev. We can still salvage this Op, but right now I need you to go dark. Understood?”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Wait!” Marion shouted. “What about—”

Click. The line went dead. 

“Fuck!” She pounded her fist on the doorway. “Your guy is a bastard, you know that?”

“I do, actually,” Sev said with a sigh. “But you heard him. We go dark until morning. That means no more communication, no nothing.” She disconnected her rig and slid it back into her pack. “I’m sure he’ll answer your questions once we’re in person.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, actually. In fact, she had no idea how Ravi was going to act. He certainly didn’t seem happy, although that was the norm for him, so who knew.

Marion deflated. “Fine. I guess…we wait.”

“Yeah,” Sev said. “But…” a smile grew on her face. “I’m sure we can find something to do.”

Her mark shook her head, brows raised. “I can’t believe you’re actually propositioning me at a time like this.”

“Relax, I’m just playing,” she said, although somewhere deep down, she knew she wasn’t. “It’s not every day I’m forced to shack up with a hottie.”

Despite everything, Marion blushed. “That’s…shut up,” she shot back. “God, are you always so insufferable? First you break into my room, steal a bunch of my files, then—then—”

“And then we shared an intimate moment together?” Sev helped her along. “Look, my job said nothing about not sleeping with you. In fact, that would have been the perfect in if I’d known it would work.”

“Well, it won’t,” she insisted. “I’m taking the bed. You get the couch. And be happy I’m not tying you up again.”

I’m rather unhappy that you’re not tying me up again, actually, Sev thought. “Don’t vanish in the middle of the night, now,” she said. “You’re stuck with me now.”

“Don’t I know it?” Marion said, exasperated. “I have nobody I can trust. Not you, not my colleagues, no one.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning, I guess. Don’t try anything.”

Seven examined her mark closely for the first time since arriving in the safehouse. She looked exhausted. Her life had turned upside-down in a matter of hours, and now she was on the run from people she thought were on her side. No wonder she was agitated.

“Hey,” she called out before Marion could leave the room. The blonde turned to face her and said nothing, a hand on her hip. “Look, I know you don’t trust me, and you have every right not to. But we can work this out. I can be on your side.”

Marion stared at her long and hard, then turned to leave. “We’ll see,” she said. And then she was gone.

Sev collapsed onto the couch. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

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